Legio V Alaudae

Legio V Alaudae was a legion of the Roman Army which was levied in Transalpine Gaul in 52 BC by Julius Caesar during his Gallic Wars. It was the first Roman legion composed of provincial soldiers and not of Roman citizens, and their name "Alaudae" comes from the Gallic soldiers' lark-shaped helmet crests. The legion fought against Vercingetorix and stayed in Gaul until 49 BC, when it was moved to Hispania. In 46 BC, its emblem was awarded for bravery against a charge of war elements at the Battle of Thapsus. It served with Mark Antony between 41 BC and 31 BC, and it fought at the Battle of Actium; after Antony's suicide in 30 BC, it merged with Octavian's army. It later took part in Nero Claudius Drusus' campaigns in Germania, and it took part in a mutiny in 14 AD, when Germanicus succeeded in compromising with the soldiers. It suffered heavy losses during the Batavian revolt in 70 AD, and it was destroyed at Tapae in 86 AD during Domitian's war in Dacia.